In May, Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will sit the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test. While the data might but put to good use, the overemphasis routinely placed on...

School marks for written tasks

Dan Blore is Manager and Educator at Extended Learning Centres, Mooloolaba
If you notice that your secondary students are given marks for English or other written assessments which seem below the...

5 tips for bringing up tutoring with your child

Dan Blore is Manager and Educator at Extended Learning Centres, Mooloolaba
In my previous post, I explain why many kids and teenagers have a negative conception of tuition, and why Extended Learning...

In May, Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will sit the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test. While the data might but put to good use, the overemphasis routinely placed on these tests defeats the point. It would be valuable to have an accurate measure of schools’ and students’ performance in

Dan Blore is Manager and Educator at Extended Learning Centres, Mooloolaba If you notice that your secondary students are given marks for English or other written assessments which seem below the standard of work submitted, we recommend that you make a point of politely contacting your school for some objective feedback on why. Without your

New open-ended maths focus in Queensland schools needs students to think differently Thanks to the spike in anxiety levels of Years 7 to 10 children, many parents are suddenly aware of the shifting school maths curriculum. It’s moving away from: Clear tasks with a well-defined procedure from start to end, with one expected right-or-wrong answer,

New Senior Maths Subjects Explanation – as briefly as possible – 2019 update In Year 10, students select from three ‘General’ mathematics subjects (General Mathematics, Mathematical Methods and Specialist Mathematics) to study in Years 11 and 12. Prior to 2019, the maths subjects were called Mathematics A, B and C, respectively. ‘General’ subjects can count

2018 Update: With the transition from OP to ATAR, the names of Queensland maths subjects are also changing to match Victoria: Maths A – General Mathematics Maths B – Mathematical Methods Maths C – Specialist Mathematics “Lock in B, Eddie!” We say students should have Mathematics B as their default expectation, and aspire to it from

Your child should be aiming to be towards the head of the pack in mathematics from early on. The later it’s left, the harder it is to catch up. Some schools start ‘streaming’ students into higher- and lower-level mathematics groups way before they start actively talking about career pathways. This presupposes that students in lower

Most students who present to Extended Learning Centres are ready for concepts above their year level. In many cases, WAY beyond their year level. Maths expectations at school are too low, largely because Queensland’s year levels have been “elongated” rather than updated. At ELC, because we teach individuals, not classes, not year levels, we can: target students’ needs,

By Dan Blore, Educator Have you ever asked yourself, “What is the point of assessment?” Great teachers ask themselves that constantly. Jump to 5-minute video explanation of Formative and Summative assessments Jump to 2-minute video: Judging good Good Assessment As an adult, when is the last time you took an exam? We expect school to

Senior Maths Subjects Explanation – as briefly as possible In Year 10, students select from three mathematics ‘Authority’ subjects (Mathematics A, Mathematics B and Mathematics C) to study in Years 11 and 12. Authority subjects count towards Overall Position (OP score, replaced by Australian Tertiary Admission Rank from 2018) for university admission straight from school.

NAPLAN have released preliminary statistics for this year’s testing. While theoretically it’s great to have data which could be well used to help decide what actions are needed to improve outcomes at national, state, school and individual levels, our main gripes with NAPLAN remain: the many weeks schools divert from regular curriculum to ‘teach to